Chapter 3 #2
Not bothering to answer, I tie my skates and get on the ice with the older kids. This is why I do this; the kids are so good. There is one kid, in particular, who flies on the ice. His hands are the best I’ve ever seen, and he has hockey sense.
I blow the whistle, and they come over to me. “How long have you been playing hockey?” I ask the five kids who are huffing, trying to get their breathing under control.
Everyone says since they were six except the kids with the hands. “Two years,” he says. I look at him and make a mental note to ask him more questions after.
The time flies, and by the time I look around, it’s five o’clock, and I get off the ice. Taking off all my stuff, I change into shorts and a shirt. I grab my phone and see that I have forty missed texts and shake my head, laughing as I read through them.
Matthew: Who you calling old? Max is older than I am.
Max: I’m like fine wine; I get better with age.
Matthew: I just threw up in my mouth.
Viktor: I’m in.
Evan: We should just have the family vacation there instead of up north.
Max: That sounds good to me. I’ll mention it to Allison.
Matthew: The sister you stole .
I laugh at the back and forth, and I’m about to answer when I see Dylan sitting on the step facing the front door.
“Hey there,” I say, putting my phone away. “Whatcha doing?”
“I’m waiting for my mom,” he says, trying to blink away tears. I sit next to him.
“Mind if I wait with you?” I ask, and he just shrugs. “Do you want to call your mom?” I take out my phone when he nods.
I give him my phone, and he takes it and dials her number. She must answer right away.
“Mom,” he says softly, and she must be telling him something. “Okay,” he says. “I will.” He hands me back the phone. “She’ll be here in ten minutes.”
“That’s okay. It’ll fly by,” I say. “Are you hungry?” He just shakes his head. “How did you like the first day?”
“I really like it,” he says and then looks at me. “I like the ice the best,” he says, and I just nod at him.
“But in order to be faster on the ice, you need to do lots of stuff in the gym,” I say. “When I was your age, all I wanted to do was be on the ice, but my father forced me to go to the gym and made me use a jump rope.” I lean in to him. “I hated it,” I whisper, and he smiles and laughs.
“Did you do it?” he asks, and I nod.
“I had no choice. He wouldn’t let me on the ice unless I did it.” I see a car pulling up, and a woman climbs out of the back seat. She runs into the arena and looks around, the fear all on her face. You can see that she has been crying; her eyes and the tip of her nose are red.
“Mommy.” Dylan calls her name, and she runs over, her eyes looking at him and then at me. She looks a little shocked I’m still here.
“I’m so sorry,” she says, taking Dylan into her arms. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he says softly. She kisses his head and then leans back and takes his face in her hands. “Did you have fun?” She tries to hide the tears in her eyes.
“I was on the ice a lot,” he says, and then she looks over at me.
“I’m so sorry. My car died, and I had to get an Uber, and there was traffic,” she says and then gets up. “Thank you so much for sitting with him.”
“Not a problem, Caroline,” I say, and my heart starts to beat a bit faster. I want to pull her in for a hug, but instead, I put my hand in my pocket.
“Let’s go, buddy,” she says. Bending down and grabbing his camp bag, she puts it over one shoulder and then picks up the bag with the equipment.
“Do you want me to carry that?” I ask, and when she smiles at me, I see that the smile never reaches her eyes.
“No, thank you. You’ve done enough for the day,” she says politely. “Let’s go.” She holds out her hand, and Dylan grasps it and then looks at me.
“Bye, Justin,” he says, walking out with his mother.
When I grab my stuff and walk out, I see that they are walking down the street.
I get into my SUV and watch them walk to the corner and stand at the bus stop, and my stomach burns.
I pull out and then stop the vehicle at the corner where they wait.
“What are you doing?” I ask, getting out of the car and walking to them.
“We have to take the bus because Mom’s car didn’t work,” Dylan says, and I look at Caroline, who looks like she wants the ground to open up and swallow her.
“Why don’t I give you guys a lift?” I offer, and she just shakes her head.
“No,” she says, standing tall. “It’s more than okay. It’s not that much of a ride.”
“Right,” I say, “but my mother would kick me in my a—” I stop myself from saying the word and then look down at Dylan. “Butt if she knew I didn’t drive you home. Not to mention, what my father would do to me.” I smile at her. “So technically, you would be saving me.”
“Do you still get time-outs?” Dylan asks, and we both laugh at him.
“Actually, you would be surprised,” I say, then I look at her. “Let me drive you home, please.”
“I don’t want you to go out of your way,” she says. “The bus should be here any minute.”
“I have nothing else planned, and I am just going to end up following the bus to make sure you get home safely, so it’s just easier if you let me take you.”
“You really don’t—” she starts to say, and I stop her.
“I know I don’t have to,” I say, and she looks at me, her eyes still a bit red, “but I want to.” I look down. “Let me take you and Dylan home, Caroline.”
“Okay,” she says softly. “If I’m honest, that would be really great.
” She turns to walk to the SUV, but I stop her and take the bag from her shoulder.
She just smiles at me shyly and tucks her falling hair behind her ear.
She is a mother to one of your kids, I tell myself, so she could be someone’s wife.
And just with that thought, I feel a sudden sense of loss, and I have no idea what is going on.